GEORGIA LAWMAKERS who want to boost the state’s economy should start paying more attention to classrooms instead of boardrooms.

That’s according to Robert Sumichrast, the outgoing dean of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

During a speech Thursday to Savannah-area business leaders, he said that Georgia still devalues education. If it wants to improve economically, it must improve academically.

“Georgia has implemented many positive economic development changes,” said the dean, who recently accepted a job to head up Virginia Tech’s business school after six years with UGA. “The state’s biggest competitive challenge, however, is in the quality of our K-12 education.”

Locally, workforce readiness has been moved up the priority ladder among educators, business groups and political leaders. One of Savannah’s big employers, Gulfstream, has become heavily involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. JCB, another major manufacturer here, has launched an internship program to encourage young people to pursue careers there.

The Terry College chief pointed out that only 65 percent of Georgia high school freshmen will graduate within four years. That’s awful. Nationally, 75 percent complete high school in four years; the rate is 85 percent in European Union countries, he said.

Sumichrast said a poor reputation in terms of education is particularly costly to the state in attracting “high-paying, highly-technical” businesses.

“It is time to change the culture of the state,” he said. “We need to increase the value we place on academics.”

Lawmakers who hold the purse strings in Atlanta should listen, learn and be smart about spending money.